SEAG basketball back in Manila after 26 long years

KUALA LUMPUR – It’s been 26 long years since the basketball-crazy Filipino nation saw up close and celebrated a SEA Games cage championship on home soil.

This is finally in store again for the country next year, and an expected Gilas Pilipinas title run at the Smart Araneta Coliseum or at the MOA Arena could well be among the highlights of the feats of Filipino athletes in the country’s hosting of 30th Southeast Asian Games.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas will surely not fail the nation especially with a long-term program geared all the way to a possible passage in the 2019 FIBA World Cup and in the 2020 Olympics.

“That’s the reason we built a strong cadet program for tournaments like this,” said Chot Reyes, chief of the Gilas program featuring elite players and cadets to be tapped in major international tournaments leading to possible entry in the world joust and the Olympics.

“This is a very young team, marami pang makikita sa kanila. Hopefully, it goes on until 2019,” said Reyes of the cadet squad that delivered a 12th straight SEAG crown to the country.